Mysterious Hummmmm

[SlenderSprite]

I have had a mysterious hum in my house for about 15 months. It isn't electrical as I have had the electricity meter changed to digital and also it still continues when we have blackouts (there has been a few this summer so I could make sure). It's quite a low frequency and hard to hear in the daytime as low level traffic noise runs over the top of it. Could it be caused by leaking water??? Or perhaps a gas water heater vibrating??? Any thoughts most gratefully received. :~

[Toyboy]

Tinnitus?

[DavidG]

Pumps, air con, swimming pool filters etc of yours or near neighbours.
Mining activities below you.

[Toyboy]

Check your water meter. Turn off all taps inside, including the toilet, and then sit and stare at the meter for awhile.
If the noise disappears and the mater is not moving, open the toilet tap and stare at the meter again.
I had the same thing some time back. I seemed to be the only one who could hear it, and that was usually only at night.
It turned out to be a VERY slow leak in the pipe behind the bathroom.
After the water meter trick, I moved around the house with a stethoscope for quite awhile before I finally tracked it down.
It was the tiniest crack in a copper pipe which, by the looks of things, had been leaking for years and because it was so minor, even the outside base of the wall was dry. Apparently the plumber's work was not up to scratch on one of the joins, as stated by my plumber when he came to repair it.

Hope this is more help than my previous diagnosis.

[SlenderSprite]

Yeeeessss... definitely not tinitus... can't hear it anywhere else and have had a friend stay and she could hear it too. Good trick about the slow leak... have thought about the stethoscope too... will definitely try it. I live in a very quiet mountain area so would not expect anyone to be mining beneath me :) at least I hope not. Would be wonderful to have a quiet nights sleep.

[Timmo]

Give your local priest a call, ask him if it's been happening frequently in the area.

[echnidna]

have a look for a beehive or wasp nest

[Bazzmate]

I've heard that termites make a bit of a noise while they are munching away on a house?

About the stethescope on the water pipe trick . . . try getting a large screwdriver and put one end on a water pipe and the other end up to your ear. My weapon of choice is a big yellow handled Stanley that has the metal shaft continue all the way through the handle to the end. So I guess that any metal rod would do the trick? Strangely enough, you can hear if water is running through a pipe or not You can test it out by running a tap to know what you are listening for. I would also try various pipes throughout the house as you would not hear a small leak on one side of the house by listening to a pipe on the other side. Hope that helps.
Cheers, BRD.